


Until the Morning Comes

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Fables & Other Tales [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-08 07:37:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19102618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673





	Until the Morning Comes

It was the screams that pulled his mind from sleep. That alone was not enough to drag him back to reality; however. He had lived with nightmares for years, although they had become blessedly less frequent recently. No, it was the almost inaudible sobbing that followed the initial outburst that convinced him he was not simply trapped in some nightmare; some ghoulish memory.

Loghain sat up with a start, suddenly wide awake, and instinctively reached out for Theadosia, but she was not there beside him. The first pale washes of morning light were settling in over the room, and casting the trembling form of his wife in shadow where she had collapsed on the floor. He rolled out of bed, pulling a blanket with him, and carefully approached her. Wrapping the blanket around her shoulders and lifting her into a sitting position, Loghain pulled her close against his chest and simply held her there.

This was not the first nightmare. It would not be the last. But, as with him, Theadosia’s sleep had been less troubled since they had been together. Loghain liked to believe that perhaps he brought some measure of security to her, but he knew it was equally likely she did the same for him. They had both been through the void and back; her even more so, he would argue. And while he knew he would do absolutely anything to keep his beloved wife safe, he also knew there was little he could do to combat the horrors of her own mind.

And so he simply sat there, holding her tight, stroking the long auburn waves of her hair as she cried against his shoulder. Just as she had held him and whispered soft words of comfort the last time he had awoken from a bad dream. Moments passed, and the sun rose higher over the trees, unfurling a blanket of warm, soft light over the castle. Slowly, Theadosia’s tears dried, and she nestled her head closer against his shoulder.

“I am sorry.”

“You know you never need to apologize, Theadosia,” he murmured as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. She knew; just as he knew she always would. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She gave a slight shrug, the blanket slipping slightly and exposing the pale skin of her shoulder. She tugged it back up, then sighed. “The same as last time. I dreamt Eamon Guerrin killed me, but I could still see everything that was happening around me. I could see the pain on your face, and the despair in the eyes of the others. I knew I had failed. I knew that you would be left alone, and that Cataline and Nathaniel would be cursed forever, and that not even my death had solved a damn thing.”

Theadosia paused, sniffing slightly as she scrubbed a frustrated hand over her eyes. “I spent so many years wishing I could just die, Loghain. Were it not for the others who suffered with me, through no fault of their own, I would not have stayed my hand. Then you came, and those thoughts faded away. I wanted to live. And then it was almost all taken away by a selfish, foolish man.”

“Sweetheart.” Loghain stood, gently helping Theadosia stand and helping her settle back into bed before lying down beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and brushing a kiss to her lips. “You spent a decade living with a horrific curse. You are not weak or broken simply because you were affected by that; in fact I would be more concerned if you were not. And if the occasional nightmare is the price I pay for the gift of being with you; of holding you and kissing you and loving you, then it is one I am more than willing to give.”

“I hate that I am like this.”

Those words broke his heart, and he pulled her closer to him, wishing more than ever that his wife could see herself the way he did. “Theadosia, I love you. All of you. I would not have married you, otherwise.”

Another soft sigh, her breath warm against his skin, and then the familiar lilt of her smile as she looked up, storm blue eyes meeting his own. “That being the case, I am not entirely certain which of us is the more insane.”

Loghain laughed, leaning his head down to kiss her again, deeper, until he was very nearly lost in her. “Theadosia,” he replied when they finally parted, “I love you. And you are safe.”

She closed her eyes, and for the first time that morning her expression was calm. She wrapped her arms around him, snuggling close as he held her.

“I know.”

 


End file.
